Mental Health Act, 2001

• Permanent Page URL

Interpretation.

2.—(1) In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—

“Act of 1945” means the Mental Treatment Act, 1945 ;

“admission order” shall be construed in accordance with section 14 ;

“application” means an application for a recommendation that a person be involuntarily admitted to an approved centre and “applicant” shall be construed accordingly;

“approved centre” shall be construed in accordance with section 63 ;

“child” means a person under the age of 18 years other than a person who is or has been married;

“clinical director” means a person appointed under section 71 ;

“Commission” means the Mental Health Commission established under section 32 ;

“consultant psychiatrist” means a consultant psychiatrist who is employed by a health board or by an approved centre or a person whose name is entered on the division of psychiatry or the division of child and adolescent psychiatry of the Register of Medical Specialists maintained by the Medical Council in Ireland;

“establishment day” means the day appointed by the Minister under section 31 ;

“examination”, in relation to a recommendation, an admission order or a renewal order, means a personal examination carried out by a registered medical practitioner or a consultant psychiatrist of the process and content of thought, the mood and the behaviour of the person concerned;

“functional area”, in relation to a health board, means the functional area of the board as defined in the Health Boards Regulations, 1970 ( S.I. No. 170 of 1970 ) and in relation to the Eastern Regional Health Authority, its functional area as defined in section 7 of the Health (Eastern Regional Health Authority) Act, 1999 ;

“functions” includes powers and duties and references to the performance of functions include, with respect to powers and duties, references to the exercise of the powers and the carrying out of the duties;

“give” includes send, whether by post or electronic or other means, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“health board” means a health board established under the Health Act, 1970 , and the Eastern Regional Health Authority;

“Inspector” shall be construed in accordance with section 50 ;

“legal representative” means a barrister or a solicitor;

“mental health services” means services which provide care and treatment to persons suffering from a mental illness or a mental disorder under the clinical direction of a consultant psychiatrist;

“mental illness” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 ;

“Minister” means the Minister for Health and Children;

“parents” includes a surviving parent and, in the case of a child who has been adopted under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1998, or, where the child has been adopted outside the State, whose adoption is recognised by virtue of the law for the time being in force in the State, means the adopter or adopters or the surviving adopter;

“patient” shall be construed in accordance with section 14 ;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

“recommendation” shall be construed in accordance with section 10 ;

“registered nurse” means a person whose name is entered in the register of nurses maintained by An Board Altranais under section 27 of the Nurses Act, 1985 ;

“registered medical practitioner” means a person whose name is entered in the General Register of Medical Practitioners;

“registered proprietor” has the meaning assigned to it by section 62 ;

“relative”, in relation to a person, means a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew or child of the person or of the spouse of the person whether of the whole blood, of the half blood or by affinity;

“renewal order” shall be construed in accordance with section 15 ;

“spouse” means a husband or wife or a man or a woman who is cohabiting with a person of the opposite sex for a continuous period of not less than 3 years but is not married to that person;

“treatment”, in relation to a patient, includes the administration of physical, psychological and other remedies relating to the care and rehabilitation of a patient under medical supervision, intended for the purposes of ameliorating a mental disorder;

“tribunal” shall be construed in accordance with section 48 ;

“voluntary patient” means a person receiving care and treatment in an approved centre who is not the subject of an admission order or a renewal order.

(2) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

(a) a reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act,

(b) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(c) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.